The radiosonde was developed by NBS and was used extensively by the U.S. Army, Navy, and Weather Bureau for obtaining weather data from the upper atmosphere. It is carried aloft by a balloon and sends radio signals which are recorded at a ground receiving station that may be interpreted in terms of altitude, temperature, and humidity. This item is part of the Radiosonde Collection. In the late 1930s Harry Diamond, Wilbur Hinman, and Francis Dunmore undertook research to devise a practical system of radiometeorography for the Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics. A year after beginning construction of their unit, Diamond and his group sent up their first model radiosonde and demonstrated its effectiveness in transmitting continuous data on cloud height and thickness, temperature, pressure, humidity, and light intensity in the upper atmosphere.

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